Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the boys from the school to the House. I second Senator Norris's amendment to the Order of Business. We cannot have him discommoded during lunch.

I wish to join colleagues in welcoming the publication of the draft agreement between Britain and the European Union published yesterday. On the face of it it appears to be, as my colleague, Senator O'Reilly, has already stated, good for the Six Counties of Ulster that are currently governed by the United Kingdom. I fully endorse what Senator O'Reilly has said 100%. As a result, that can only be good news for the Border communities, especially the areas of Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim and Louth that I come from.

Like Senators O'Reilly, Mac Lochlainn and others in the House, having been born and reared on the Border I have seen at first hand the decimation caused to the region during the 30-odd years of the Troubles and beforehand. I welcome the draft agreement and the proposals relating to the backstop. However, I hope that we will be given an opportunity to scrutinise in minute detail all 585 pages of the agreement. Rightly, we are concerned about the backstop and about having no physical border on this island again. However, I do not think we should take our eyes off what else is in the draft agreement. I wish to caution against making decisions until we have examined it fully. I know my colleague, Senator Ned O'Sullivan, spent all of last night reading all those pages and has some concerns that he will be raising at a later date.